The present invention relates to a composite solid propellant with a stable burning rate on the basis of ammonium perchlorate, telomeric binders with terminal functional groups or functional groups statistically distributed along the chain, which are hardened with corresponding hardeners into rubber-elastic products, finely pulverized, readily oxidizable metals such as magnesium, aluminum and zirconium and/or semi-metals such as boron and silicon, and, optionally, inorganic fluorides, as well as plasticizers and burning rate moderators.
The solid propellants which are used as energy sources for rockets usually contain the oxygen required for combustion in the form of solid oxidizers. In contrast thereto, in air-breathing boosters, oxygen from the air is used with simultaneous employment of a strongly underbalanced composite propellant. A strongly under-balanced composite propellant is one where the amount of oxidizer is greatly insufficient to oxidize the finely-pulverized metals. A significant increase in output or range is thereby made possible, because in place of solid oxidizers additional fuel can be carried. If this fuel partly consists of the metals magnesium, aluminum or zirconium or the semi-metals boron or silicon, propellants are obtained which, when burned with air, are far superior not only over the conventional rocket propellants but also over hydrocarbon/air system such as kerosene/air, for example.
A further increase in performance with equal dimensions of the rocket motor can be achieved if the missile is capable of flying so-called high/deep-profiles. The prerequisite for this is that the mass throughput of the propellant is well regulatable, that is, that the propellant possesses a high pressure exponent n. Here lies the disadvantage of the heretofore employed underbalanced composite propellants, primarily when finely divided metallic boron is used, which all exhibit a pressure exponent that is unsuitable for regulating the mass throughput.